“Republic of Amnesia” Film screening on Tuesday, April 7 at 6:00pm, at Williard Straight Theatre, Cornell Cinema

 

                     Republic of Amnesia | Official Trailer

Young activists lead Sri Lanka’s 2022 uprising, toppling an authoritarian president but can fragile hope survive in a country built on forgetting?

Directed by Kannan Arunasalam, Republic of Amnesia follows the rise and fall of Sri Lanka’s Aragalaya (“The Struggle”) the youth-led protest movement that forced authoritarian president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country in 2022. At its heart are young activists like Melani, Buwanaka and Jeana, who organize marches, face arrest, and confront a political system built to endure. As they challenge a powerful dynasty, their struggle raises a deeper question: can fragile hope survive in a country built on forgetting?

As the spirit of the Aragalaya ripples across Asia, inspiring youth movements from Bangladesh to Indonesia, the film looks beyond the moment itself. It asks what remains and what is lost when a movement fades, and suggests that the struggle for democracy lies not only in institutions or leaders, but in the stories a society chooses to preserve.

Filmmaker Kannan Arunasalam will join for a conversation after the film with Daniel Bass, Senior Program Manager of the South Asia Program.

Free admission! Sponsored by the South Asia Program at the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.

About the filmmaker
Kannan Arunasalam is a British-Sri Lankan filmmaker working across documentary film and moving-image installation. His work explores memory, political resistance, and the legacies of conflict and colonialism. His installation The Tent (2019) was presented in a solo exhibition at Yorkshire Contemporary. His documentary Sri Lanka’s Rebel Wife (2021) was shortlisted for Best Documentary at the DIG Investigative Film Awards. He recently completed two feature documentaries: Republic of Amnesia (2025, UK/Sri Lanka), examining Sri Lanka’s 2022 Aragalaya protest movement, and Possible Landscapes (2025, US/Trinidad & Tobago), which premiered at the BlackStar Film Festival and explores intergenerational environmental experience.

In Sinhala, Tamil and English with English subtitles. More at republicofamnesia.film.

Part of our “Campus Collaborations” and “Doc Spots” series.

“A struggle for democratic space” by Ahilan Kadirgamar

Ahilan Kadirgamar: “Sri Lanka is facing a crucial election, possibly its most important since 1956 when the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) came to power. For the first time since S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike split from the United National Party (UNP), the two-party system may be reconfigured as members of the two elite parties come together in an attempt to overthrow the Rajapaksa regime, which has gone too far down the path of authoritarianism.”

via: http://m.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/comment-on-sri-lanka-presidential-election/article6732968.ece/

“Does Diplomacy Stand a Chance in Sri Lanka?” by Taylor Dibbert

Sri Lanka has made some progress when it comes to reconstruction and development, but authoritarianism, ethnic tension and majoritarian triumphalism still plague the country. And a feckless, fragmented opposition ensures that the Rajapaksa regime will be around for some time yet.

For those members of international community concerned about human rights, accountability, and reconciliation on the island, now would be an inauspicious time to look the other way.

Viahttp://southasia.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/01/16/human_rights_diplomacy_in_sri_lanka_retreating_or_resilient

source: www.southasia.foreignpolicy.com